Sanity - Aiken's Artifact

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Fighting back the little voices in your head has never been so much fun.

By IGN Staff

In the continuing battle to see if the massive influx of PC to DC ports are a good thing, one game looks to strike a blow for the good guys. Featuring an excellent plot, a proven gameplay style, and some awesome visuals, Sanity: Aiken's Artifact, from Fox Interactive, is a tight little package that each and every Dreamcast owner should keep their eye on.

An action/RPG due out in the second quarter of 2001, Sanity takes place in a world thirty years into the future where some humans have developed psionic powers. Using these powers they can perform special talents that would probably be akin to magic in a medieval setting. A group of more mal-intentioned psionics, led by a man named Abel, has decided that they have had enough of the rest of humanity and want to use their superior brain power to squish them all. Nathaniel Cain, a psionic trained from birth to fight these evil forces, is ready to step in to make sure that doesn't happen.

Cain, supplied with over 3000 lines courtesy of rapper Ice-T, has the ability to gain up to 80 different talents throughout the game by defeating bosses and exploring. These talents are grouped under 8 different "totems". They range from Egyptian style attacks like the Wall of Bones or the Eye of Ra to modern Vegas-style illusions. The usual suspects are there in the form of fireballs, chain lightning, healing, and many others. Using these, you must solve mental and physical challenges as you work your way through 20 different levels in order to vanquish those nasty baddies. A wide variety of settings are used for the levels, such as laboratories, catacombs crawling with nasty monsters, and even a bizarre game show.

And what's behind curtain #1? Well, the game uses a fully 3D engine, although the perspective is largely viewed from a ¿ perspective similar to Diablo. Monolith's LithTech engine unleashes Eye candy like kids on a playgorund, and from our brief look at the title at E3, we can tell you it is gonna feature some impressive visual effects. Psionic powers are accompanied by crazy visual va-va-voom, levels feature atmospheric lighting, and the architecture itself is quite stylish. In other words, expect Sanity to be quite the graphical mindtrip..

Is all that enough for you? No? Well, we haven't even gotten to Sanity's multi-player aspects. Up to eight people will be able to play in deathmatch play, and rumor has it Dreamcast users will be able to share in PC gamer's joy with a little Online action. For those out there obsessed with collectible-style games, you'll find trading talents with other players online should help scratch that itch. Bless that little modem.

With lots to do, see, and collect, Sanity could be the game that really hits the spot. You know, the spot that wants some RPGs or anything even resembling one. Suffice it to say, this one already has most of the staff at IGN DC drooling in anticipation. We will bring you more details on this one as soon as they become available, so be sure to keep checking back with us to stay apprised of the status of this wicked little game.